"The Look"

Here is a photo i took this morning as I was writing and having my first Espresso . Does this look like the "look of love?"
Burt Bacharach and Hal David once wrote a great tune "The Look of Love".
Dusty Springfield was the lucky girl to be blessed to do the vocal track back in 1967. Well all I remember from '67 is that I had a crush on my 5th grade teacher who drove a brand new orange "Barracuda"fastback. WOW she was like Dana Fitzpatrick.
Honestly 40 years later I now love the version by Diana Krall and I wanna fly fish for Barracuda.

Today Jane and I have been blessed to raise three uniquely incredible children. If you showed this photo to our three children, all three would tell you that that's "the look".
I never liked spanking, but all three of our kids up till the age of around 5 got there share when all else failed. Marissa would rightly tell you she got the most over the boys. She had the most "my will not thy will" inbred. (hmmm where did she get that?).
Well there comes that time when you really must stop corporal punishment and move to other methods of "teaching" lol. I developed "the look". When I'd give this look to my kids it meant " don't even think about it", or "you are Not serious" ,or " If you lie to me I'LL know anyway".

It's important to keep that and other things in your parental arsenal to "hopefully" use when you feel those you love are slipping, have slipped or are headed to slip and hurt themselves.

The look would never honestly be used to hurt those you love only to help them, or help them stop, think and or pause to understand something. (If only children could understand that).

GOD..... How bout God....

What has He done for us? How does He convey "the look"? What is His method of trying to get you or I to pause, stop, think, reflect, pray, search our memory banks for "Word" to help us make proper decisions.

Today think about if you couldn't talk out loud or be seen by your kids -and- you had to find some way in love to encourage, discipline and help shape your kids destinies. How would you do it? How would it make you feel to watch them make bad choices and you couldn't speak outloud to stop them. How would that break your heart.

GOD.... How bout God....

Jesus was and is "the look of love", "the word made flesh", our living example of life. The living Word is all we have to hear clearly God's voice and His opinions. Prayer/Worship is our supernatural connection to knowledge, wisdom and power. and although it's one of the things we spend the least time at, it is like eating the Word one of the hardest to be faithful at. It's so much easier to go have coffee with friends and talk about other faults while reciting a verse or two.

Father today, help me so that I can make better decisions and choices in this walk of faith and not have to fall off any cliffs I see as adventure. Keep my conscience open to Your direction and help me see "the look".

Using Your Imagination

So here is a photo of a new "fly" I tied last summer for Smallmouth Bass. #8 upsidedown turned eye. Yellowdot barbells, olive marabou, rubberlegs, crystal flash, chenille, peacock herl and a tail cut of silicone from a worn out C-pap mask. lol

So what makes one think of these things and tie them all into a flyfishing fly? The need to create! God put it into all of us. We are created in His image. Will it ever catch a fish? Doesn't really matter but I KNOW it will :) You gotta love the sharpie black dots on the silicone to represent frog or dots on a minnows body. Come on, cant you see it bouncing on the bottom with the hook up (so as not to get caught on rocks) darting up and down with the marabou pulsing and the rubber legs moving in the current with the tail swinging and the peacock and crystal flash reflecting light. oooooh, so exciting for a fly tier. Yes it will probably get caught and a rock and snap off only to never be eaten but just maybe... :)

Now you all read this and say to yourself , whew I never new Craigt had such weird hobbies outside of songwriting and creating food dishes. Well it's only the latest I'm confessing.

How bout you. Those who have strong creative gifts already know what they are but it's those who swear they cant create anything but a mess that I'm interested in. You just need to let go, design time to develop your inner passions and forget who thinks anything about it.

You may love designing. Start it on paper, then bring it to your medium. Arts/Crafts, clothing, horticulture, science and on and on. You may love writing or music. There is no end to where you can "create". Begin in your home. Don't worry what your family says so long as you enjoy it and it doesn't take away from your life responsibilities or obligations. There is something "whole" that happens when you use your God given imagination. Note to self: "don't EVER look for others to think it's good OR think it's good yourself. Unrealistic expectations are the death of most creators. They are not met and we give up. I wonder what things God created that He finished and said, "hmmm, I can do better that that". One thing's for sure, He didn't say that when he created you.

Remember before you forget...

Last night I was watching a movie of love and life with Morgan Freeman as a therapist. Lot's of broken hearts, death and dying. In the movie his own son dies of heroin overdose and he had no clue. As a counselor he felt a failure. Staring at young adults and children at a wedding he sadly mused, "it's beyond tragic". His wife looking at this celebration said, "what do you mean". He replied in pain, " they have no idea what they are headed for. The pain, sorrow, hurt, brokenness of life that ends sadly...
I shed a tear, agreeing in so many ways that this is really truth. Regardless of our beliefs and creeds, there are basic truths we in a life of faith try to gloss over. Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you say, "i have no pleasure in them". Ecc 12:1

Above is a photo taken last year of my mom with her grand and great grandchildren at our homestead. I see the joy of everyone in that moment but am reminded that as my father passed on three years earlier of brain cancer and my mom began a slow journey into dementia , that life will have remarkable twists for all these grand and great grandchildren. 100 yrs from now their children and grandchildren will look back on this photo and tell stories of their lives and journeys. Have we prepared them for reality? Have we shown them our failures so they do not have to repeat them, or have we hidden them away for another generation to suffer? Have we spoken Solomon's final summary in Ecc. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments." So simple yet so hard to live and teach as fallen/redeemed mortals. I look above and pray for continued new beginnings, lessons learned with the ability to grasp grace and humbly receive and grant mercy in all things to all people. Thank you Jesus that you are the foundation of all on which we can stand, hope and believe when life sends it's blows and we are grasping for the very air You breathe.